Home theater wiring

[kblackmore]

Gentlemen,

I was wondering if there were any ill effects if I were to run normal wire in the wall for the subwoofer channels. I was thinking of doubling up 12 gauge wiring for a total of 4 wires going to each outlet and then combining them for thickness (I was told that 2 12 gauge wires is close to 8 gauge wire). This will be for all 4 sub channels.

Also, for the home theater gurus, is a Dolby Atmos system really better than a 7.1 system? I am in the pre wiring building stage and was wondering if it would be worth replacing my amp and buying/installing the extra speakers.

The home theater surround system will not be used for music, there will be a dedicated 2 channel system installed in the same room for that purpose.

Another interesting problem is how to combine the LFE channel from the surround system and subs from the 2 channel system. The amp that will be used for the sub channels will be a Mackie FR3600 PA amplifier.

As always, any advice would be greatly appreciated

[billfitzmaurice]

What makes you think you need more than a 20a circuit? I can't imagine it in a home theater.

[Chris Roemer]

I think he might be using Romex type wiring for speaker wire runs?

[kblackmore]

The wires are for speaker runs, not for the AC power. I am thinking of normal, stranded 12 gauge wire like you find in your car.

[Paul O]

I was wondering if there were any ill effects if I were to run normal wire in the wall for the subwoofer channels. I was thinking of doubling up 12 gauge wiring for a total of 4 wires going to each outlet and then combining them for thickness (I was told that 2 12 gauge wires is close to 8 gauge wire). This will be for all 4 sub channels.

Will you be putting kilowatts of power through these subs or something? There is no need for anything bigger than 14ga wire for the average HT speaker system, and besides aren't most subs self powered these days?

To direct;y answer your question there is nothing wrong with using solid core electrical wire for inwall speaker runs, this wire doesn't like to be flexed repeatedly however so it has to be terminated at a face plate and left alone for the rest of it's life.

[Thump]

For the Atmos part - that's really up to content. If you wind up playing tons of stuff that actually uses it you'll miss it if you watch it where the system is set up properly for it. And of course I'm talking true dedicated in ceiling at correct location, not ignorant angled garbage trying to reflect it to the ceiling - that's all those things are; gimmick cheap trick with garbage result from everything I've read on the matter, which wound up being quite a bit last year for a while as I was interested to learn about Atmos just for informational purposes.

When done properly it'll create an environmental envelope / 3D space presenting a pretty decent next level "sky" addition to the audio bubble we're all trying to create in multi channel HT.